When you run a website, there are all kinds of ways to make money doing what you love. From paid product features to working with ad networks to selling custom-made products, the sky is the limit when it comes to putting a little extra money in your pocket!
One of the lesser used money-making options, though, is microtransactions. The basic method of making money through microtransactions is similar to working with an ad network. But instead of being paid by an advertiser for displaying their product, you’re paid directly by your reader for the content you provide.
The Canadian-based QUID wants to bring the benefits of microtransactions to North American website owners with its new platform that lets bloggers and content creators add payment buttons to posts and collect money from readers with ease.
I decided to test the system out for myself by signing up for an account and adding buttons to my site. Signing up was quick and easy; I just needed my name, email address and website URL. Then it was time to get a little more complicated and actually insert buttons into my content.
As a WordPress user, I was thrilled to see that QUID offered a plugin for easy integration of the buttons. I simply installed the plugin and then went to the plugin settings to connect my site to my QUID account.
The connection is made by generating an API key that will associate the transactions of your buttons with your website. After entering the API key in the plugin’s settings, I was ready to insert buttons onto my website!
I used the library of articles on the QUID website to learn how to use a shortcode to insert a payment button on my site. I liked the fact that I could add the sliding payment widget within my actual blog posts, like this one on my post about Road Trip Games, or on my site’s sidebar.
And I especially enjoy the fact that QUID can be used the way I was using it, as a donation-based platform, or can also be set up as a paywall system that will allow readers to access exclusive content after making a purchase!
For those that don’t use WordPress, QUID does require a bit more work entering code into the website’s body and posts. But the support team at QUID is always happy to help website owners get things running smoothly and when I had a quick question about my account, they had answers for me in minutes!
I love the way that QUID lets readers decide whether they want to chip in a few cents to support their favourite writer. And since a few cents from a few thousand people can add up pretty quickly, it’s a fun and low-pressure way to monetize a blog in addition to the usual ads and sponsored work!
Want to give QUID a try for yourself? Click here to sign up for your own account and see how easy it is to get started! With just a few quick steps, you can have your own sliding button that lets you collect microtransactions from your favourite readers!
I’m looking forward to adding QUID buttons to some of my most popular posts and seeing how they perform. And once I’ve tested out the basic system, I may even try creating some exclusive content for readers that can be purchased for pennies using the QUID system.
Whether you already work with an ad network or not, it’s worth giving QUID a try to see how it performs for you. You may learn that a lot more people than you realized see the value in the content you create and are willing to chip in a few cents to help you keep your site going strong!
Interesting – had never heard of QUID before!